15-Day Pinnacle Tour 2027

Enjoy a leisurely hop-on / hop-off tram journey around Christchurch in immaculately restored heritage carriages. The meet & greet with your host, Peter Hillary, your fellow “explorers” and your tour guides is at 5:30pm at the Distinction Hotel, followed by a Welcome Dinner.

Your journey begins at Christchurch Railway Station, where the iconic TranzAlpine awaits — and you are seated in premium “Scenic Plus” for onboard dining. Often regarded as one of the world's great train journeys, the 223-kilometre run takes almost five hours across the ice-fed Waimakariri River, the Canterbury Plains and the Southern Alps via Arthur's Pass.

A luxury coach meets you in Greymouth for the short run to Punakaiki — home to the famous “Pancake Rocks” and blowholes — followed by the “Paparoa Experience”, an immersive Māori cultural experience.

Leaving Punakaiki, we head south for the West Coast Tree Top Walkway — an exhilarating treetop adventure among temperate rainforest giants — with lunch at the historic Empire Hotel in Ross, before continuing to the beautiful glacial township of Franz Josef.

Leaving Franz Josef and travelling down the spectacular West Coast, we encounter the mighty Haast River on a Jet Boat Safari into the heart of Te Wāhipounamu, the South West World Heritage Area, with a Ships Creek river & beach walk along the way.

We then travel over the Haast Pass through native rainforest and over the Southern Alps, past the crystal-clear waters of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea, pausing for a night in beautiful Wanaka.

A unique and intimate experience: a 4WD drive into the Matukituki Valley and Mt Aspiring National Park to the homestead of the Aspinall family — old friends of the Hillarys who have farmed this country for four generations at Mt Aspiring Station — with a farm lunch included.

The adventure playground of Queenstown then awaits, with views of The Remarkables Mountain Range and Lake Wakatipu from the hotel.

A Queenstown highlight: a return helicopter flight over the spectacular mountains of Fiordland to a premium cruise of the “eighth wonder of the world”, Milford Sound — taking in Mitre Peak and resident wildlife from the inner reaches to the open Tasman Sea.

Back in Queenstown, dinner with a well-known local guest speaker, former Queenstown mayor and businessman Jim Boult, at the award-winning “Nest” at Kamana Lakehouse.

A well-deserved day of leisure in Queenstown (kept as a contingency flight day), followed by a lake cruise on board the historic TSS Earnslaw, the 1912 Edwardian steamship, which takes us across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet BBQ dinner.

Departing Queenstown for the village of Kingston, the iconic Kingston Flyer Steam Train awaits for a memorable return journey between Kingston & Fairlight.

Southward to Mandeville for a special visit to the Waimea Plains Railway — home to a static display of the historic Rogers K92 Steam Locomotive (the original Kingston Flyer) — and the Croydon Aviation Museum, with lunch at Miss Cocoa Café. We continue to Dunedin by luxury coach through the rolling rural landscapes of the deep south.

In the morning, we explore the remote Taieri Gorge by Dunedin Rail over river gorges and through historic tunnels to the Wingatui Viaduct, a marvel of 1880s construction that remains the largest wrought-iron structure in New Zealand.

That afternoon, a visit to the Taiaroa Head Albatross Colony, the hidden underground Fort Taiaroa and the world's only Armstrong Disappearing Gun, before dinner with well-known local historian Seán Brosnahan.

Departing Dunedin by luxury coach, we hug the coast towards Oamaru with a pause at Moeraki Beach to view the famed spherical boulders, and lunch at the award-winning Riverstone Kitchen in Oamaru.

We then detour inland via the Waitaki Valley and Omarama towards the spectacular Aoraki Mt Cook — the alpine country where Sir Edmund Hillary developed the climbing skills that would lead him to Everest. Australasia's tallest peak soars above at 3,724 metres.

A visit to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre — a tribute to New Zealand's global icon. Morning adventures take in the awe-inspiring Tasman Glacier by helicopter and ski plane, with expert pilots navigating over the glacial lake and NZ's longest glacier, the 600-metre-thick Tasman Glacier.

The afternoon continues with a glacier explorer cruise, and a nightly cocktail-hour briefing and storytelling by Peter Hillary.

A morning departure from Aoraki Mt Cook, journeying back to the coast via Lake Tekapo, Geraldine and Rakaia, with lunch at Barkers Foodstore & Café in Geraldine.

On arrival in Christchurch, we visit the International Antarctic Centre and experience a taste of the breathtaking continent — ride a Hägglund snow vehicle, feel an Antarctic storm and meet penguins and huskies, just like the explorers before you.

Explore the historic town of Akaroa — renowned for its French heritage, colonial architecture and stunning harbour views — and a special visit to the Hinewai Private Nature Reserve on Banks Peninsula, hosted by well-respected New Zealand botanist and author Hugh Wilson.

Departing Christchurch on the Coastal Pacific Scenic Train in premium Scenic Plus seating, our destination is Kaikōura, where the mountains of the Seaward Kaikōura range rise from the deep trenches of the Pacific just offshore.

We join the Kaikōura Whale Watch Cruise — the offshore trench means the huge resident sperm whales are often seen close to shore — alongside an abundance of seabirds, including 3.5-metre-wingspan Royal Albatross.

This morning we board the Coastal Pacific again, departing Kaikōura's dramatic coast for the Marlborough region — crossing the historic Seddon railroad bridge, through the Awatere Valley and over the Dashwood Pass to Blenheim.

We explore the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre and its world-class WW1 & WW2 aircraft, concluding with a wine tasting and farewell dinner at one of Marlborough's finest estates, Allan Scott Winery. The next morning, you fly with Air New Zealand from Blenheim to Auckland, connecting you with your onward or homeward journey.